I think that obviously all things are relative,i think most of us would like to catch the fish that shake river records etc,but its not the one reason to fish. A 10lb barbel is a nice fish anywhere,but obviously a more significant capture on a river thats record is 12lb than on a river thats done an 18lber. I do get the feeling when reading some things that theres a fair bit of willy measuring going on with size of fish lol.. in reality ,a relative newcomer could put a lump of spam on a size 2,chuck it mid river without a clue of the toppography of where theyve just cast,and pull in the river record,the bloke in the next pag could be a chap who catches consistantly having put in effort and using watercraft gained from years of experience,but he may never hook the fish that the novice 30 yds up/downstream has just gone and caught,lol.
To me,i love being there,no other thoughts in my head ,just the surroundings and my mind hopefully working out how to catch what i intend to catch. A lot of the time im on my own but i sometimes like to fish with mates too,i enjoy the bite ,the fight etc and as i freequent a shallow and often low /clear stretch i like watching fish for hours,their reaction to bait ,where they lay up,where they feed etc--the whole of fishing is a different world,as soon as im fishing ive sort of stepped into a different world.
As for size of fish,obviously i like catching big fish,but getting it right and putting fish on the bank irrospective of whether its 6lb or 12lb is still pleasing.
Last winter was bloody hard work lol,very cold so each barbel was a pleasing capture,although i had a few on boilie/paste,i also had a lot of fun with the maggot feeder in some very cold conditions,hoping for barbel on maggots/casters,,i did catch some barbel but also a variety of other species including a couple of bullheads lol!!
sometimes i think that angling has got a bit sad,too many seem worried about sixe of fish all the time,and are maybe not enjoying the whole package.